Gravity
by zosimos
Summary: Musebox: Edward's really good at keeping secrets, and Kenshin doesn't care for it.


There was a small, subtle difference in the tread between the three residents of the Kansaki Sou with automail feet. Kenshin hesitated on turning the page of the novel he was reading as he heard the distinct uneven tread of automail-flesh in the hallway outside the room. It took him only a moment to identify the particular Elric that automail belonged to, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he kept his eyes focused on the page.

The door to the bedroom clicked open as Edward slunk in. There was no light on in the hallway, despite the fact it wasn't all that late yet, and he closed the door behind him with a relieved sigh. "Where have you been all day?" Kenshin asked, then glanced up.

Edward was in the process of pulling his shirt off over his head, braid thumping against his shoulder-blades as he aimed the long-sleeved shirt somewhat in the direction of the hamper. "In my lab," Edward said, lying through his teeth.

Kenshin was very, very good at nuances. Edward wasn't. Also, Edward looked like he had cleaned himself up, even if there was a dark bruise along his jaw line and - were those bruises in the shape of fingers on his neck? Kenshin leaned back against the headboard and closed his book, watching silently as Edward changed for bed. If he wasn't going to say anything, Kenshin wouldn't either.

At least, not yet.

Edward caught Kenshin's eye as he tugged the hairband out of the end of his braid and shook his head, but his hair was a tangled mess. "Don't even think about putting your automail hand in your hair," Kenshin said as Edward was about to do just that. He frowned at Kenshin, but then snorted and sat down on the bed.

"Honestly," Kenshin chided him, sliding across the bed and grabbing the spare brush he kept on the bedside table. "When will you learn?"

"How many years have I had automail?" Edward asked rhetorically. Kenshin settled behind him and started working the brush through Edward's mass of wavy, tangled blond hair.

There were more bruises on his back. Dark ones. Kenshin held Edward's hair in his hands as he brushed it, lips pressed together as he studied the purple bruises. Some of them were fading, at least a few days old. Had it really been so long since they'd last slept twined together naked? He would have noticed these bruises, dark and vivid against Edward's tanned skin.

Edward's head twisted, yanking the hair in Kenshin's hand with the movement. He was looking over his shoulder at Kenshin, single gold eye peering out from under those bangs like a wolf's, as he stared directly at Kenshin. "You okay?"

Abruptly, Kenshin realized that he'd stopped brushing. He resumed quietly, and Edward looked forward again. They sat in silence together as Kenshin worked the brush through the tangles present in Edward's hair.

Then, softly. "How did you get these bruises?"

He felt Edward's shoulders tense, the muscles bunching up and the scar tissue crinkling oddly where the automail pressed into his skin. Then, after a long moment he forced himself to relax, sighing out the held breath. Again Edward looked over his shoulder at Kenshin, his gaze tired. For a moment Kenshin wondered if Edward was going to lie to him so blatantly, but their communication without words was almost better than it was with. Edward leaned forward, his half-brushed hair falling from Kenshin's fingers, and he braced his elbows on his knees a moment.

"Ed?"

"How else does one get bruises?" Edward asked rhetorically, one hand rubbing the juncture of automail and flesh at his shoulder. He jumped a little, surprised, as Kenshin leaned forward and draped his arms over Edward's shoulders, brush dangling still from one hand.

"You're fighting again," Kenshin said softly, his chin on Edward's shoulder. "You promised me, no more fighting."

"I haven't been fighting," Edward said, and it was a lie as transparent as glass. He rested his head against Kenshin's. "I've been in my lab all day today, I nearly pulled down a bookshelf, I'm surprised you didn't come running with all the noise that made-"

Kenshin closed his eyes, his palm flat on Edward's chest. He could feel Edward's heartbeat, steady and strong there. His skin was warm, and Kenshin sighed. Edward liked to pretend that there was nothing wrong no matter what, he had this stubborn streak that Kenshin understood all too well. If he asked for help, and those who helped got hurt it would only feed into the guilt complex Kenshin had been working on breaking him of.

"I don't know why you feel you have to lie to me," Kenshin said quietly. "But it's okay if you don't want to tell me how you got those bruises." He tightened his arms around Edward a moment, before letting him go. "Please don't treat me like an idiot, though. I know you weren't in your lab today. I had to go get the dishes you'd left down there from last week."

Edward didn't respond, and Kenshin sat back on his knees, cleaning the hairbrush of the loose long hair that had gotten tangled in its tines. He hadn't cleaned the brush from the last time he'd used it, either, and the red and yellow hair was tangled together in an inextricable knot. Kenshin smiled as he dropped the ball of dead hair into the waste bin on the other side of the bed.

When he swung his legs off the mattress and stood, Edward still had not moved. Kenshin replaced the hair brush on the dresser and tugged the hair band out of his own long hair. The years had taught him his hair tangled worse if he tried to sleep in a ponytail than to leave his hair loose. He heard Edward get up from the mattress as he wrapped the hair band around the brush handle, and then Edward was embracing him from behind.

"I'm sorry," Edward said into his shoulder. "If I could, I'd tell you, but I can't, Kenshin, please don't ask me-"

Kenshin folded his hands over Edward's arms, one real, one fake. "If you need me on your wing, Ed, you just have to say the word." He turned in Edward's arms and tucked his fingers under Edward's chin, making him look up into Kenshin's eyes. "I just worry about you."

Edward's eyes, so large and that deep amber color that almost seemed unnatural, were still troubled. But he smiled for Kenshin, and it was a genuine smile. "You shouldn't worry, I'm fine," he murmured, and rose up on his toes to give Kenshin a kiss.

He felt like he could get lost in Edward's kisses. The world had shrunk to a single, solid point, just the two of them. Kenshin suddenly had this burning desire to mark Edward, to show his stake in the ownership of this body desecrated with slowly lightening bruises, and his hands tightened on Edward's hips. Edward drew back a little, registering the possessive look on Kenshin's face and smiling, unperturbed.

"You're getting all alpha male on me again," Edward murmured, his lips a breath away from Kenshin's. "Jealous?"

Kenshin's fingers were firm. "You're mine," he growled. "I want to protect what is _mine_."

"Mm," Edward said. "You're not the only alpha in this relationship, Himura." He tilted his head to the side as Kenshin kissed along the side of his jaw. "You protect me and I protect you. Seems like a pretty fair trade to me."

"Ed," Kenshin said into his ear. "You're wearing far too many clothes for my liking right now."

Edward rocked back on his heels, grinned, and kissed Kenshin again. Whatever it was that Edward was in to, he could handle himself. And if, for whatever reason, he couldn't ... Kenshin had to trust that Edward would come to him.

What else could he do?


End file.
